AP News Digest 3 a.m.
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TOP STORIES
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS -- Top Capitol Hill negotiators sealed a deal Sunday on a $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package, finally delivering long-overdue help to businesses and individuals and providing money to deliver vaccines to a nation eager for them. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 1,050 words, photos. Timing of votes in the House and Senate uncertain. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS-HIGHLIGHTS.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BIDEN -- President-elect Joe Biden will receive his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 900 words, photos. Timing of Biden vaccination uncertain; midday or later expected.
YE-TRUMP-LEGACY-PRESIDENCY -- Donald Trump as the most improbable of presidents, has reshaped the office. His legacy includes shattering centuries-old norms and traditions while dominating the national discourse like no one before. Yet it remains unclear how much of his imprint on the office itself will be indelible. By Jonathan Lemire, Zeke Miller and Darlene Superville. SENT: 1,230 words, photos.
RACING FOR A REMEDY-ANTIBODY DRUGS — Companies are testing drugs that mimic the way the body fights COVID-19, hoping they can fill a key gap as vaccines remain months off for most people. The drugs supply antibodies, substances the immune system makes to block the virus from infecting cells. These are some of the most complex medicines that exist. Unlike chemicals simply mixed in a lab, antibodies are coaxed from living cells and grown in a tedious, high-tech process. Each drug is developed from a single coronavirus survivor. One company tested more than 3,300 antibodies before choosing two for its drug, which has gone into the arm of a U.S. president and others fighting COVID-19. By AP Chief Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione. SENT: 1,760 words, photos. This is the Tuesday Spotlight
VIRUS OUTBREAK — An expert committee has put people 75 and older and essential workers like firefighters, teachers and grocery store workers next in line for COVID-19 shots as a second vaccine began rolling out to hospitals. By Mike Stobbe and John Hanna. SENT: 1,240 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THINGS TO KNOW, VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EUROPE — One by one, several European Union nations banned flights from the U.K. and others were considering such action, all in hopes of blocking a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England from establishing a strong foothold on the continent. By Kirsten Grieshaber and Sylvia Hui. SENT: 1,520 words, photos. VIRUS OUTBREAK-GENETIC VARIANTS — Researchers are concerned about reports from Britain and South Africa of new coronavirus strains that seem to spread more easily. Scientists say it’s unclear if that’s true. And for now, they don’t think the new strains cause more severe COVID-19 illness or pose any concern for vaccines. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to quarantine for 10 days after one of his staffers tested positive for COVID-19. SENT: 150 words, photo.
LOCKHEED MARTIN-ACQUISITION — Lockheed Martin strikes $4.4B deal to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne SENT: 180 words, photo.
PEOPLE-ARIANA GRANDE — Ariana Grande announces engagement, shows ring on Instagram. SENT: 150 words, photos.
FILM-BOX-OFFICE — ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ grabs $38.5 million overseas. SENT: 200 words.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-WINTER IS COMING — Winter is here, and the season at hand is one of uncertainty and fear with coronavirus cases spiking nationwide. Shouldn’t the pandemic be over by now? Before the average person will get inoculated, winter will exact its toll. SENT: 1,180 words, photos. There is an abridged version.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — An Australian state government leader has apologized for a bungled hotel quarantine program that led to most of the nation’s COVID-19 deaths. The response comes after an investigative report criticized the use of private security guards to enforce isolation in Melbourne hotels in May and June. SENT: 350 words, photos.
Virus Outbreak-Europe-Vaccines
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PASTOR — The leader of a north Georgia megachurch who has been a spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump has tested positive for COVID-19. News outlets report Jentezen Franklin was absent from Sunday services at Free Chapel in Gainesville. SENT: 350 words, photo.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-PRISON TRANSFERS -- In prisons around the country, COVID-19 outbreaks have followed transfers of prisoners or prison workers. Many states had reduced or limited transfers earlier in the pandemic but then lifted their restrictions by September, worrying families of prisoners and correctional officers. By Cary Aspinwall of The Marshall Project and Ed White of The Associated Press. UPCOMING at 6 a.m.: 1,330 words, photos.
TRUMP-SUPREME COURT — Undeterred by dismissals and admonitions from judges, President Trump’s campaign continued its unprecedented efforts to overturn the results of the Nov 3. election with a petition to the Supreme Court to reverse a trio of Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases. SENT: 550 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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SOCIAL MEDIA MANIPULATION — A vast, globalized industry of low-cost social media manipulation service providers continues to flourish, distorting both commerce and politics — including the verified social media accounts of two U.S. senators. SENT: 760 words, photos.
JAPAN-DEFENSE BUDGET — Japan’s Cabinet approved a ninth straight increase in the nation’s defense budget as the government bolsters funding to develop longer-range cruise missiles and stealth fighters to counter potential threats from China and North Korea. SENT: 390 words, photos.
PAKISTAN-INDIA — Pakistan’s prime minister has warned India against carrying out any “false flag” operations in the disputed Kashmir region. Imran Khan tweeted the warning on Sunday, two days after a U.N. vehicle in the Pakistan-held part of Kashmir came under attack. SENT: 250 words, photos.
BOSNIA-MOSTAR ELECTION — Long-entrenched ethno-nationalists are projected to win the first local election in Bosnia’s southern city of Mostar in 12 years. Partial vote results also indicated multiethnic parties and alliances would be a strong part of the future city council. SENT: 530 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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OBIT-TUSKEGEE AIRMAN-FARRAR — Former Tuskegee Airman Alfred Thomas Farrar died on Thursday in Virginia only days before a ceremony planned to honor his service in the program that famously trained Black military pilots during World War II. He was 99. SENT: 300 words, photo.
POLICE SEARCH-WRONG HOME — The city of Chicago’s top attorney has resigned in the fallout of a botched police raid on the home of a Black woman who was not allowed to put on clothes before being handcuffed. SENT: 460 words, photos.
MISSING SOLDIER-DEATH — An investigation has been launched after a 20-year-old soldier who went missing from New York state’s Fort Drum was found dead. SENT: 250 words.
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BUSINESS
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TESLA-SOARING STOCKS — Tesla will join the S&P 500 on Monday after a streak of profitable quarters helped push its stock price up over 700% this year. The electric vehicle maker has come a long way since the middle of last year when there were doubts about its ability to pay its bills. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Shares are mixed in Asia as worsening coronavirus outbreaks overshadow news that U.S. lawmakers finally have a deal on more support for American families and businesses. SENT: 770 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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FBC—ON FOOTBALL-BROKEN POSTSEASON — The more people who get angry with the College Football Playoff, the more likely it is to change. Seven years into its existence, the postseason system that replaced the Bowl Championship Series is starting to produce levels of frustration, and in some cases contempt, among fans and competitors that ultimately crushed the BCS. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. SENT: 890 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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